After the Embers Die
by doodlefreak
Summary: After Weirdmageddon, the family must deal with the emotional and physical aftermath of the rift, along with figuring out how to seal the rift permanently. There's only one being that's capable of helping them achieve that, and luckily, they managed to seal him in the body of a young boy. (Eventual Bill/Dipper)
1. Chapter 1

Dipper's favorite part about autumn was the silence. He could picture his backyard by closing his eyes. The trees' barren branches, save for the small birds that peppered them like rustling black leaves; the dried and dead glass crunching under his feet as he walked; and the smell of something earthy and calming that you just couldn't place or describe properly. He never viewed it as the world dying, just the world going to sleep.

Because this, this was the world truly dying, or already long dead.

When Dipper opened his eyes in front of the remains of the Mystery Shack, he almost expected to see the sky still red, almost expected to hear screaming and fires burning in the distance. That image had been burned into his mind so thoroughly that it still lingered whenever he closed his eyes. But the sky was blue, the fires were out and only smoke could be seen in the distance. And it was quiet. Not the calming quiet of autumn, but of decay and death, and if it had been a month ago it would have brought on a panic attack, but he's too tired, too numbed by everything that had happened and everything that still wasn't taken care of yet.

"Hey, snap out of it, kid," he heard Grunkle Stan say behind him gently. A hand was put on his shoulder and he didn't flinch. "I found it, so let's go."

"Yeah," Dipper mumbled, almost sounding as if he were in a trance. "Yeah, let's go."

He and Stan walked away from the rubble of the Mystery Shack, not looking behind them, and left.

When they got back to Ford's bunker, they found Mabel sitting down picking grass by the entrance, bundled up in a sweater they'd found in one of the shops in the next town. With the Mystery Shack gone, not many of their personal items had made it. Dipper would suggest making new ones, but he knew Mabel's heart wouldn't be in it. He had actually just gotten several of the same shirt and shorts, since he'd never gotten excited about shopping the way Mabel did. Mabel's mood had been slightly elevated when she was shopping, but now it seemed like she was back to where she started when they first rescued her. It was hard for her to look anyone in the eye now.

At the sound of the doors closing, Mabel looked up and directly down again when Dipper caught her gaze. He made a pained face in response, but didn't react to it otherwise. Stan looked at both of them worriedly.

"Is my good for nothing brother downstairs still?" Stan asked bitterly.

"Yeah…" Mabel responded.

Stan's shoulders squared, fist almost crushing what they had searched almost half of the day for, and began walking towards the entrance. Before he descended however, he knelt down and kissed Mabel on the top of her head. "After we're through here, we'll go find a place that's still serving pancakes, okay sweetie?"

Mabel managed a small smile at that, and responded, "That sounds nice."

Reluctant to say anything that might upset Mabel, Dipper simply followed Stan down the winding steps. It was more lit up now thanks to Ford fixing up the place. When they had first gotten here, it was almost like he expected it to look how it did when he last saw it. The dust and smell of mildew threw him off enough that he had spent almost a week cleaning and doing minor repairs on everything that desperately needed it, and another preparing the holding chamber in lieu of Dipper telling him of their encounter with the shapeshifter. Now, that seemed like a century ago.

"Hey, Ford!" Stan yelled once they got to the sealed door that blocked the bunker off from the rest of the world. He began pounding on the metal roughly. "Open up, you old geezer!"

The intercom crackled next to the door, before Ford's voice came through it. "Stanley, use the intercom! I'm doing delicate work in here, and that banging isn't helping."

Stan rolled his eyes. "I could care less about your nerd work right now. Dipper and I found it, so let us in."

A moment of silence, and then the clicking of several locks and seals being undone could be heard. The door opened, and Stan shoved past his brother, pushing the metal piece of technology into his hands in the process. Ford glared at Stan's retreating back, but said nothing. Dipper gave Ford a sheepish smile as he passed him and followed his uncle.

"What is that thing supposed to do, anyway?" Stan asked with his arms crossed, looking around the room so he wouldn't have to look at his brother.

Ford seemed to perk up a little, and started to walk forward. "This is something of my own making that I used for the very holding cells that are down here." He paused to knock on the glass of one of the cylinder-shaped holding tanks. "Although, this is a newer prototype that will work much better on our current prisoner. After I make a few more tweaks, I'll be able to use it to not only put creatures in stasis, but to use magic runes that enable the prisoner to talk, but render them immobile."

"Less wordy version, please."

It was now Ford's turn to roll his eyes. "They'll be able to talk, but not move. Something that these tanks previously couldn't do." He turned to Dipper. "Dipper, would you like to help me install it when I've finished perfecting it?"

Dipper was ready to respond enthusiastically, when Stan interrupted, coming over to stand in front of Dipper. "Oh heck no, you are not dragging him or Mabel into any more of this. I told you to stay away from them."

"Grunkle Stan—" he tried to protest, which earned him a glare over his shoulder. Dipper's jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

"We're leaving to get pancakes, so just get it done," Stan almost snarled. He put his hands on Dipper's shoulders and began to lead him out.

Dipper looked behind him, Stan, and Ford to the holding cell behind them as they left. In it was a kid about the same age as he and Mabel strapped to the chair with any chain they could find in this place. He was unconscious and held almost completely solid by the faulty stasis chamber, bangs covering the rest of his face. But Dipper knew he could hear them, knew he was taking in every conversation being held in this room. Ford and Stan would deny it, but Dipper knew one thing for certain after everything he knew had changed:

He would never underestimate Bill Cypher again.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I update about a day earlier on AO3 than I do here. So hop on over there if you want faster updates! :)

Their breakfast-for-dinner outing was, well, tense to say the least. They had picked a round table instead of a booth, so thankfully they didn't have to go through the awkwardness of seeing who would sit next to whom.

The place they had found was in a tiny village about a half hour outside of Gravity Falls, and it was no Greasy's Diner, but it was still nice in its own way. The place was almost empty when they arrived, the only people occupying the small eatery being a family of three at the other end of the place, the waitress, and the cook that stood behind the counter at a grill. There was soft oldies music playing over the speakers, and the chef swayed her hips to the beat as she cooked.

Mabel's eyes lit up at the prospect of one of her favorite sugary meals as soon as it was placed in front of her, but after a few bites, Dipper could tell the excitement had been drained from her. He and Stan tried to fill the silence with small talk about the rebuilding of the town, but it was stunted with too-long pauses between topics.

Dipper glanced at Mabel, who was now resting her head in one of her hands, while the other pushed pieces of soggy pancake around on the plate. Swallowing hard, he started, "So, I hear Pacifica and her family are coming back soon, Mabel."

She raised her head and gave him a questioning look. Pacifica and her family were one of the first to evacuate as soon as things started. Their mansion definitely wasn't spared, but it had done much better than most of the buildings in Gravity Falls. As soon as things calmed down, they had hired workers to start on rebuilding their mansion (and in smaller quantities, parts of the town). While the mansion wasn't in perfect condition yet, the Northwest's were probably eager to get back to doctor up the town. After all, if there were no Gravity Falls, a large part of their family's power was gone.

Taking her look as encouragement to go on, he cleared his throat and continued. "Yeah, they, um, they're going to be donating to help rebuild the town. I hear it was partially Pacifica's idea. Maybe you could, you know…" he trailed off, not exactly sure how to end his sentence. He opted to look down at his hands that were balled in his lap instead, hating that he had no idea how to comfort his sister, something that he had always knew how to do.

Stan swallowed a large bite of sausage and said gruffly, "That girl's gotten a lot smarter since the last time I saw her. Still uppity, but tolerable. It's like you guys are some cartoon protagonists that spread goodness, life lessons, and all that other garbage." He waved his fork for emphasis, sending a few flecks of syrup flying.

Mabel giggled a bit at that, but Dipper didn't miss the pang of hurt that flitted across her face a second later. She did, however, continue to eat her pancakes despite how soggy they had gotten. Without Mabel seeing, Grunkle Stan winked at him. Dipper smiled slightly in return, and returned to his own food as well.

He looked out the window as he chewed, noting that the trees here weren't charred and blackened like they were back in Gravity Falls, but for a moment he thought he saw red in the sky. When he blinked, it was gone.

"Now kids, the only reason we're going anywhere near that place is because almost all of the town's motels are ruined, the ones that aren't I've been banned from, and it's illegal to park this thing anywhere you don't own. Which normally wouldn't be a problem, but there's cops everywhere now."

They were driving back to Ford's bunker in the truck, where Stan had parked the miraculously still intact RV. Dipper wondered silently why they didn't just park it near the Mystery Shack, but he had an inkling why Stan didn't want and didn't mention it. After everything that had happened, it was probably best that they avoid the police as much as possible, and the bunker was well out of the way of anyone investigating.

They parked the truck, loud engine going quiet, and Dipper could hear the faint sound of crickets. The sound that normally would have him pressing a pillow over his head was oddly soothing. He unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of after Mabel, who right away signaled that she was going to the RV to sleep. The sun was just beginning to set, so he figured she just wanted to be alone. Lately, that's all she wanted to do.

Barely a month ago he was ready to stay in Gravity Falls and be away from Mabel indefinitely, and now the thought of her wanting to be alone made him want to curl into a ball. He wondered if that's how his twin was feeling. He wondered if that was how she felt when he first mentioned it to her.

Dipper bit his lip and turned to Stan, who was looking at the entrance of the bunker, where Ford had immerged from covered in what looked like oil and some kind of sludge. His glasses were partially covered in soot.

"Well?" Stan asked as Ford cleaned off his glasses with the edge of his ripped sweater.

Ford pushed his glasses back into place before speaking. Dipper could almost hear Stan's impatience.

"I may need some help installing it."

"Not Dipper," Stan growled.

Ford gave him a sour look. "I wasn't going to say Dipper. Stan, you rebuilt and started the portal yourself, albeit with the help of the journals. You're more than qualified to help me."

Stan uncrossed his arms balled his hands into fists at his side. Dipper felt apprehension coil in his stomach. "And who says I want to help? After everything that's happened, why should I?"

Ford matched his brother's anger with his own. "This is no time for petty arguments! I would think you'd understand that by now."

"What I understand is that you caused this, and almost got the entire town and our family killed!"

"I caused this? If you hadn't opened the portal again, none of this would have happened!"

Dipper looked between the two, not sure what to do. A suffocating air was buzzing around them, and the louder they yelled, the more worried he got. He looked toward the RV, hoping beyond hope that Mabel couldn't hear them. Thinking about Mabel, his own anger took hold of him.  
"Well if you had trusted us, maybe Mabel wouldn't have—"

"Shut up!" Dipper yelled over their shouts. They both flinched in response, turning their heads simultaneously to look at him. "You're arguing isn't helping anything! In fact, it's making everything worse." Dipper began pacing, waving his hands frantically as he talked. "I almost want to say that if you two would have resolved your differences in the first place, none of this would have happened. But you know what? Now I'm sure that's never going to be possible." He was almost sure he saw his uncles flinch, but he didn't care. "The point is, this is none of our faults. This isn't Stan's, this isn't Ford's, and it is especially not Mabel's!"

He ended the last part in a scream, shoulders heaving and his pacing coming to a halt when he was done. He stared at the ground in anger, not wanting to see either of his uncle's responses. He realized belatedly that there were tears at the edges of his eyes, and he wiped them away in frustration, blinking furiously to try and stop any more from flowing.

"Kid…"

"Dipper…"

He cut both of them off. "Just… Just stop, okay? No more fighting."

Before they could say anything, he turned to the RV, fully prepared to sleep his anger away.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : Once again, head on over to AO3 if you want faster updates of this fic!

Falling asleep with adrenaline and anger coursing through your blood was always hard, and Dipper should have remembered that before he rushed into the RV. Now, as he was laying down on the bed the table doubled as when folded down, he wished he had stormed off into the woods for a walk instead.

Normally, overthinking was his strong suit, but now he just wanted to block out everything that had happened. So many weird things had happened over the summer, but none of them came close to this. And even with the apocalypse, he would have been fine if he just had Mabel to talk to. But she hated him, and the only other person he felt would understand was Ford, and Stan wouldn't let him go near him without him being there. And he was too angry at Stan for keeping him away from Ford to—

Dipper groaned and pulled a pillow that smelled of moth balls and dust over his face, coughing a bit as he did so. He pulled it off once he came to the conclusion that he would rather not die from suffocation by dust particles. He stared at the cobwebs in the corner of the RV for a while, trying to keep the flashbacks at bay. Sleep deprivation was normal for him now, but what he couldn't deal with were the nightmares that now plagued him.

Nightmares were normal for anyone, especially him, especially in Gravity Falls, but even getting tricked into a deal and being made into a living sock puppet never gave him the nightmares like he had now. If he weren't positive that Bill was locked up down in the bunker, he would have guessed it was Bill getting payback for stopping his plans that he had apparently been working on for centuries.

That was another thing: Bill's endgame was obviously to escape his realm and enter theirs, but he had said something about being trapped there, and that it was deteriorating. Dipper wanted so badly to solve everything that had happened, and why Bill had done it, but that seemed like it was impossible now. He wanted—no, needed—something to distract himself with. He could go exploring on his own, but he knew that it would pale in comparison to what he really wanted to know. He needed to find a way around Stan. He didn't necessarily need to listen to Stan anymore, since he had been posing as Ford in the first place, so technically he just needed permission from Ford to help him. But he loved Stan, even though he would never say it out loud, and he appreciated Stan wanting to protect him. No, he would find another way, and if not… Well, Ford and Stan had to sleep some time.

Dipper looked at the wooden door separating him from the back room and his twin, and whispered, "Goodnight, Mabel."

"I'm surprised you're actually trusting me with this."

Ford glanced at Stanley out of the corner of his eye but said nothing, instead continuing to focus on his work. After Dipper's tirade and departure, he and Stan had agreed that it was best to let him cool down rather than confront him. They had gone down to the bunker together wordlessly, only talking when absolutely necessary, which suited Ford perfectly fine, as the work they were doing required concentration.

They were lucky to have found this bit of technology at all. It would have almost been impossible to make it from scratch without going to several towns to gather supplies. Ford wasn't even sure if it was an option to search the spacecraft again. For all he knew, it was lost among the rubble or had collapsed into itself from the earthquakes, and without the alien technology, it would have been impossible to complete. Luckily, he would be able to finish it with the scrap he had let accumulate in the bunker.

Truly, he didn't need Stan until installing it, but it was nice to have a helping hand. As long as Stan kept mostly silent, it wouldn't be a problem. Dipper's anger had snapped them both out of their own, and he could feel his exhaustion weighing on him like a cloud of smog. Directing Stanley helped him to stay awake.

When he looked over at Stan, who had shed his jacket and was now just wearing his white undershirt, he could see dark circles under his brother's eyes, and could tell that he was blinking harshly in order to keep himself awake. Stan yawned, shook his head, but continued to work on the small cuff-links Ford had asked him to. Alien metal was finicky, and the laser Ford gave him even more so, but Stan seemed to be doing admirable work.

Ford stifled a yawn of his own and said, "It'll take a few more hours to finish this before we need to install it on the cuffs. You can head up and go to sleep until then."

Stan grunted, and lifted the turned off laser to point at Ford, "Listen here, you. This is getting done. Today. I'm not taking a break if you're not going to."

Ford batted the laser away with an annoyed look, but relented. "Fine. We'll sleep for a few hours, and we'll continue at daybreak. You have room to sleep in that lunking mobile home, I assume?"

Stan scoffed. "I once took four kids and Soos on a road trip across Oregon to sabotage my competitors. I think the lunk can handle me and the kids."

Ford made a face. "And you question my guardianship."

"Can it, Poindexter," Stan said, putting the laser down and taking off his protective gloves, pulling at the material with his teeth.

"Poindexter…?" Ford questioned.

Stan seemed a bit confused at the question at first, but then laughed at bit. "Nevermind. You might want to catch up on those pop culture references though, otherwise you're not going to know half of the stuff going on around you."

He huffed up a bit at the implication. "I have my work. And I doubt knowing the temporary nuances of this generation will hinder my ability to communicate."

Stan was halfway to the door when he grunted and said, "Says the old man who still says floppy disk."

Ford opened his mouth once again to reply, but Stan was already gone. He couldn't help the slight smile that crept onto his tired face as he pulled his own protective gear off, putting the device that he could only describe as a power cell in a small lock box. He tucked the box under his arm, but before he turned the lights off, he walked up to the holding chamber Bill was being contained in.

In the form they had managed to contain him in, he looked innocent enough. He was barely older than Dipper and Mabel, with dirty blond hair and slightly tanned skin. It was hard to make out the rest of him. Curious, Ford leaned down to try and get a glimpse under the kid's bangs.

What greeted him made him stumble back and almost fall over, clutching the box under his arm even tighter. For just a moment, one of its eyes had opened unnaturally wide, bright yellow with a slit pupil.

Catching his breath, he looked again. Nothing.

Apprehension clutching at his chest, he stood fully and went to the door. With one last look over his shoulder at the lit up holding tank, he flipped the switch for the lights and closed the metal door with a resounding slam.

Dipper woke up instantly, completely ignorant to when he had fallen asleep during the night. He sat up, covers pooling in his lap. Drearily, he rubbed at his eyes before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing. He walked to the small bathroom next to him, washed his face and did the rest of his normal morning routine. He didn't bother changing clothes; he was never one to worry about wearing something two days in a row.

He heard excited voices outside and immediately went to see what was going on. When he opened the door, he was greeted with a wide grin and a, "Hey, dude!" from Soos, who stood over a roughly built fire pit making sausages and eggs.

"Soos!" Dipper exclaimed happily, jumping over the stairs to the RV and running over to hug him tightly. The large man hugged him back, ruffling his hair in the process. Dipper laughed before pulling away. "How's Abuela?

Soos scratched his head, "Oh, you know, adjusting to life as a chair. That's why I haven't been able to make it out to see ya guys. She needs a lot of help, not being able to move and all."

Dipper frowned, but before he could reply, Stan spoke up. "Yeah, we'll have that taken care of pretty soon. Ford and his big brain are working on it. It's one of our first priorities, I made sure of it."

Soos seemed incredibly delighted and bashful at the same time. "Well, shucks, dudes. Thank you, I don't know what to say."

"Don't mention it," Stan replied, getting a paper plate and taking a few sausages for himself. "We take care of our own."

If it were possible, Soos's grin widened even further. Dipper smiled at the exchange.

When they had trapped Bill, they had assumed all of the anomalies that he had caused would go back to normal, including all of the people he turned into varying objects and animals. But that wasn't the case. Luckily, the effects hadn't caused that much damage, so whoever was afflicted wasn't in harm's way until they could figure it out. They had tried some spells to turn them back, but to no avail. Ford had insisted that since they weren't in any immediate danger, they should be taken care of last. Stan and Dipper had shut him down as soon as he said it, and the combined disapproving glares made Ford relent.

So, one of the first things they planned to get out of Bill was to find out how to turn everyone back to normal. Dipper just prayed that whatever Ford had in mind to extract that information from Bill worked, and that containing Bill while awake would work. So far, since they had kept him in stasis since his capture, they had no idea what he was capable of in a human body. He could have all of his powers, some of them, or none at all. Even if it turned out to be the latter, it was better to be safe than sorry, which was why Ford had sent him and Stan looking in the rubble of the Mystery Shack in the first place.

"Where's Mabel?" Dipper asked, much too aware of his twin's absence.

Stan looked down at his place, rubbing the back of his neck. "She grabbed a plate and went back to the RV. Kid still doesn't want to talk to anyone."

Dipper sat down on one of the logs that had been placed around the fire and looked at the ground. "Grunkle Stan, I… I don't know what to do. I just want to talk to her, help her, but I have no idea what to do…"

Soos sat down next to him and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Hey, you guys have been through lots of stuff together and always make up. I'm sure you can do it this time too. We're all rootin' for you's two."

Dipper wanted to smile, but he knew it would end up looking more like a grimace.

Stan cleared his throat awkwardly. "We'll try talking to her again tomorrow, okay kiddo? I would say today, but Ford and I need to finish working on that thing pretty soon."

That made Dipper look up. "I want to help."

Stan's expression immediately turned from concerned to frustrated, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "I've already said a million tim—"

"I went through the same thing you and Ford did. I helped capture Bill, and he's completely harmless right now. Don't you think I deserve to be there when we can finally get answers out of him after all of this? Even if you don't think I am, I'm ready for this. I can defend myself if anything goes wrong."

Stan actually looked surprised for a moment. Then, after his face went through a million different expressions, it finally settled on one. He looked… Dipper would say it looked impressed, mixed with something else that he couldn't identify.

"Alright, kid, you've convinced me. I'm glad you're finally sure of yourself."

Dipper grinned. "Hey, after surviving the apocalypse, I'm surprised I haven't bought my own pair of brass knuckles by now."

Stan smirked. "Well, alright then. We'll go down as soon as Ford says he's ready for us."

Excitement bubbled inside of Dipper, as well as a slight amount of fear. He just hoped he didn't regret wanting to do this.


End file.
